


Fire Emblem

by Noble_Lady_of_Magvel



Category: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4900423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noble_Lady_of_Magvel/pseuds/Noble_Lady_of_Magvel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short drabbles about slice of life in Elibe and its people. Pre, present, and post-canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was the dead of winter, a slow white flurry beating against the windowpanes as the skies grew darker.

"Diecke, what are the fighting pits like?"

Diecke who was sitting cross-legged in front of the crackling fireplace cocked his head back. Toy swords and dragon puppets were scattered across the young master's bedroom from their previous games.

"Hot. So hot that in the summer the sand scorches your bare feet and you have to debate whether or not you want to wear your steel armour." He wiggled his toes in the thick carpet and pulled the blankets around his shoulders wishing for summer to return.

With wide innocent eyes, Klein reached on tiptoe with outstretched hands to touch Diecke's scars, the pale white gouges that ran across his face and down his chest. They had faded with time but would never disappear.

"Is it scary?"

"Sometimes." Diecke smiled and pulled young Klein up by the armpits. "But it's exciting too, hearing the crowd cheer for you, the rush from beating your competitor and seeing your name go up the lists."

Klein squealed as his bodyguard tossed him in the air, never thinking that he would one day leave their family.


	2. Chapter 2

"They're after me," Jaffar murmured darkly when the poster went up. He scowled at his likeness painted on the fresh parchment, grim-faced and unsmiling in the sepia-toned ink and paper. Below it his bounty was sprawled "10,000 gold pieces, dead or alive."

The two fugitives were dressed in the same clothes they had worn fighting with the Lycian League, but had draped heavy brown cloaks over their distinctive clothing. Dirt clung to their skin and under their nails, but it only helped them blend in with the throngs of refugees whose homes were destroyed by the war.

"It doesn't mean anything, oh-" Nino was cut off by the sudden kicking in her stomach. At six months pregnant she was larger than she had right to be, and with her short stature and slim frame her stomach was almost comically distended.

Her husband glanced at her briefly, then tore the poster from the tree. "Everybody in this village knows who I am, and who you are to me."

"So we'll move to another one, where we're another two travellers displaced by the war," Nino insisted, tugging on Jaffar's sleeve.

He shook his head and tightened his lips. "No. My face is too recognizable."

Tears began welling in Nino's childish big eyes. "Lord Eliwood, he knows you're no criminal-"

"It doesn't matter. It's not a noble that wants me. It's common men who have a grudge against the Black Fang for what they did to their homes. Just look at how we're treated here."

Nino bit her lip and wiped the tears streaming down her face with the edge of her cloak. It was true, Jaffar's auburn features and dead eyes gave him away as the famous Black Fang assassin. As soon as the village realized who he was, Nino and Jaffar had only been treated with cold stares and suspicion.

But Nino had liked this village so much, the fallen wooden buildings including the orphanage were being repaired day by day and scorched fields were cleared and reseeded. Once again the forges rang out with the sound of steel on steel and bakers shouted out their fresh wares. It was a town that bred mages who flaunted their spells so that swirls of fire, ice, and thunder flashed through the air almost constantly.

"You and our future child are better off without me anyway," Jaffar said softly as he brushed his hand lightly against her tear-stained cheek. Her stomach dropped as she realized what he was planning to do.

"No!" She sobbed in earnest. "Don't disappear, I won't let you leave, I won't!" She grabbed his calloused hands in her soft ones and squeezed them as if she would never let go. They stood like that for a long time, until Nino's fingers weakened their grip and Jaffar felt his heart break.

"Then I won't," he lied as her hands fell away and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He felt her deep shuddering sobs through his chest and buried his face in her short green hair. She couldn't see it, but he was crying as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Mama told him to always smile and be happy which is what Gonzales did because he's a good boy who always listens to his mama.

Gonzales didn't have a daddy but that was okay because Gonzales was big and strong and could pull the plow all by himself and chop down trees with a single swing.

_Crrrrssshh!_ That was the sound the trees made when he hit them 'cause they were heavy and smacked the other trees on their way down, like Gonzales' hand against his pants when he accidentally touched the stove because he forgot how hot it was. Sometimes some birdies would fly out from the leaves and Gonzales would wave them bye-bye with a big goofy grin on his big broad face.

Gonzales didn't have a lot but he had mama who always said she loved him _thiiiiiiiiiiiis_ much, stretching her arms wide even though she was so tiny and it looked like it wasn't much when he knew it was a lot-lot until mama got sick and then went to sleep and Gonzales couldn't wake her up no matter how hard he screamed and howled and beat his fists against the floor.

He was so desperate he picked up her tiny bird-like body and carried her into town begging for someone to help, but instead of helping they threw rocks at him and called him stupid and ugly and a lot of other words he didn't understand but knew it must be bad because of how mean their faces were. It hurt.

Not the rocks, because Gonzales' body was harder than that, but the ugly words they called him that deep down he knew were true.

Gonzales didn't want to be a bad boy and disobey mama, but-but-but he just felt too sad and... Gonzales stopped smiling.


	4. Chapter 4

The wind blew across the silent plains, where the slim blades of tall grass rippled like water across Elibe's Sacean sea. Two figures, a master and his pupil were illuminated by the pale moonlight, both reaching for their swords.

"Show me how you've grown."

In a flash of silver Guy drew his blade and brought it down in an elegant downward stroke, three strands of his master's dark hair fluttering to the ground.

Karel chuckled and tossed his remaining sheet of silky hair over his shoulder.

"Not bad, pup. Now show me your teeth!"

Guy's teeth clenched in concentration as he braced for each of Karel's attacks, feeling the jarring shock through his body with every parry. Sweat ran down his arms and forehead, soaking through the crudely stitched headband he wore to keep his hair out of his eyes.

Karel seemed almost bored in comparison, snaking his sword through his opponent's defenses like a whip, his loose hair swirling around his body with every step of the dance. He caught the tip of Guy's chin with his sword and drew a single drop of blood.

"Do you yield?"

Guy shook his head and smirked.

_Insolent pup._

"Don't make me kill you," Karel warned.

"I won't," Guy promised. He rolled up the wide sleeves of his tunic and unbuckled something from his wrists. unbuckled

Karel's eyes widened when the young myrmidon -no, swordmaster, dropped his wrist weights and created a shallow crater in the ground where they fell.

"Just let me up the ante."

* * *

**A/N How do you pronounce Sacae and Sacaen?**


	5. Chapter 5

Rutger huffed and puffed as he jogged across the plains, a red and russet blur streaking through the tall grass. Back before the hatred clouded his eyes he was young enough to hear the sky and the sense earth, right now they urged him on, _run_ _, faster, faster, before your master leaves._

The rising sun was low enough to cast long shadows over the gradually-brightening grasslands, the deep green shades transforming into dewy emerald.

There was a belief in Sacae that mother earth and father sky had given them the gift of green hair and green eyes to blend in and camouflage with the grass. Half-caste, Rutger shook out his own russet hair out of his brown eyes and slowed his pace to a walk when he neared the edge of the clan.

When the smiling green-haired clansmen in brightly decorated garb shouted greetings he returned them with energetically, weaving though the patterned tents. All around him the tribesmen were boiling yak's milk in iron kettles over open fires and he could hear the sizzle of bannock bread frying in pans for the morning meal.

Rutger smiled when he saw one small tent, hastily erected and shabbier than the rest.

_Good. Master was still here._

Rutger pulled back the heavy hide flap of a tent and stepped inside.

His master was meditating, crossed legged and brow furrowed in concentration. His long braid pooled on the floor next to his boots.

"Guy-sensei, I brought you breakfast." He held out a still-steaming package of barbecued meat wrapped in greasy oilcloth.

Guy opened one eye lazily and smiled. "What do you want to know in return?"

"Is it true that you slew the Sword Demon?"

Guy picked up a chunk of meat with his bare hands and tore it with his teeth. "I killed the Sword Demon yes, but I spared the man Karel."

"So the Sword Demon is still out there?" Rutger asked in disbelief.

"No," he shook his head, "the Sword Demon lies dead where I buried him and the Saint of Swords walks in his place."

Before Rutger could puzzle out what he meant, Guy rose slowly and pulled on his blue robe, tying the ragged belt around his waist.

"By the way pup, I'm leaving after breakfast. You'll have to find yourself a new master."

"But you haven't taught me how to use the Wo Dao yet!"

Guy picked up the long sleek blade and carefully sheathed it at his hip. "You haven't even mastered the iron sword I gave you."

"Can't you stay, Guy-sensei?" he pleaded, even though he knew it was in vain.

"No. But we'll meet again," Guy promised. He heaved his pack over his shoulder and gave his pupil a smile that was almost tinged with sadness. "All paths of the sword lead to one place."

Rutger tipped his head in disappointment. "All paths of the sword lead to one place," he murmured back.

* * *

**A/N To the guest reviewer: yeah me too! I also goofed Karel's name, I pronounced it Carol instead of Carl. XD**


	6. Chapter 6

One of his favourite sounds was the lyre, which he played sitting at the edge of the elegant three-tier stone fountain under the pouring cherub. Back when he was Prince Mildain the castle gardens would sing with the wispy whispers of plucked strings under his slender, manicured fingers. Sad songs. Happy songs. Songs meant to be danced to. The quiet chirping of crickets or curious tweets of passing birds perched on precarious branches would accompany the twings and twangs of his thoughtful meditation. _How wonderful it would be, to spend forever in this place._

The plains of Sacae. He squinted into the distance and every shade of green. From the shimmering sea of grass, the rustling leaves of trees, the hair of the people. The wind swept by and blew past the remains of the sky-blue robe and trousers he had on when he left his home. He was just a travelling bard named Elphin now. He knew he looked out of place amoung the patched hides of brown and orange and green sewn with clumsy red stitching but by now he was used to being the foreigner. Someone handed him a piece of hot bannock bread fresh from the frying pan. He accepted and picked up his instrument to play them a little song in thanks.

"What's that song called?" He was in Ostia now, amidst the rumbling city life. Haggling merchants under rag-tag stalls and noisy wagons jostling by threatened to drown out the whispers of sighing strings. "It's called Memories of Green," he told the young boy- a simple looking youth with straw-blond hair and a gap between his teeth. "Ah that's pretty," the boy said and then he ran away to see the next amusing thing at the market. He faded into the distance as black spots danced into Elphin's vision, slowly eating away the boy's back and the periphery of the scene until everything disappeared. He strummed the last few lines with no audience.

But wasn't, it was a song he had named Crown of Thorns. Why he had lied he did not know.

 

 


End file.
